suspicious looking CL posts that clearly push stolen bikes - what to do?
It was a bike with no front wheel AND the rear wheel still u-locked to the frame. Now, if that's not suspicious, I don't know what is! I flagged it and moved on, but can't seem to shrug it off.
SO
What options do we have to do something about the ones that are clearly (or at least very likely) stolen... other than reporting to uninterested cops?
Why not post right here on this forum?
Better idea, anyone??
H??
For example: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/1100811060.html
May not be stolen, but awfully odd otherwise, right??
Views: 3315
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bill the Cat on
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I recently engaged a police officer about this once & was told that "they need a specific complaint about a specific bike to do anything. So for now even if you smell a rat, you pretty much have to let it go unless you see the rat walking like one...
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Permalink Reply by spencewine on
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I hadn't seen this thread and went to check out a bike by this seller this evening. Came away with some of the same concerns:
http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/what-would-you-make-of-this
Edit: I'll add that those photos taken, while brave, do not do justice to the volume of bikes at this location.
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Do you have any idea how easy it is to wind up with 100 bikes? My God if you let BSOs in the door they start to breed. Have you ever sold anything on craigslist? Dealing with hundreds of craigslist buyers is not a way to dispose of stolen goods, it's a way to go mad. What's going on in this thread is chainlinkers running away with their imaginations and indulging their fear of The Other. Sure there are hot bikes on CL. Pin down one hot bike. One. Not maybe, not slander. Pin one hot bike. Then do something. Until then give it a rest.
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Concern and slander are not the same thing. I think you would be lying to yourself if you were to walk into this room and not have questions regarding how they were acquired. I attempted to ask this question, but the guy didn't seem to understand me.
John C. Wilson said:Do you have any idea how easy it is to wind up with 100 bikes? My God if you let BSOs in the door they start to breed. Have you ever sold anything on craigslist? Dealing with hundreds of craigslist buyers is not a way to dispose of stolen goods, it's a way to go mad. What's going on in this thread is chainlinkers running away with their imaginations and indulging their fear of The Other. Sure there are hot bikes on CL. Pin down one hot bike. One. Not maybe, not slander. Pin one hot bike. Then do something. Until then give it a rest.
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Thieves want to be rid of stolen property. ASAP. Five dollars. They don't hoard it. They certainly don't pay rent and advertise and clean bikes and invest in trucking inventory city to city. The thesis being tested here is just ridiculous. If there is a roomful of stolen bikes just sitting there it is pathetically easy for the police to crack the case and the perps are sitting there waiting to be arrested. It all comes down to the "suspects" are Mexican and lowerclass and don't behave like Anglos. It's the same frame of mind that got edited a bit at the top of the thread where someone accused Ron at NearlyNew of fencing. Ron has been right on that spot 15 years doing Chicago bikers right. And I don't go a month without hearing a tale about the spot on Broadway where they sell hot bikes. It comes down to nothing except Ron is black.
The guy didn't understand you. Sounds suspicious.
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I admit that The fact that they openly showed me the inventory is the thing that makes me wonder if I'm way off here, but I can assure you if some 30-35 yr old white guy in Lincoln Park showed me this, I'd have the same questions about its legitimacy. And the point about not understanding me has nothing to do with suspicion, I was simply trying to state I made an attempt at due diligence. I have bought bikes on CL before and always ask there origin.I also think you give cops too much credit.
John C. Wilson said:Thieves want to be rid of stolen property. ASAP. Five dollars. They don't hoard it. They certainly don't pay rent and advertise and clean bikes and invest in trucking inventory city to city. The thesis being tested here is just ridiculous. If there is a roomful of stolen bikes just sitting there it is pathetically easy for the police to crack the case and the perps are sitting there waiting to be arrested. It all comes down to the "suspects" are Mexican and lowerclass and don't behave like Anglos. It's the same frame of mind that got edited a bit at the top of the thread where someone accused Ron at NearlyNew of fencing. Ron has been right on that spot 15 years doing Chicago bikers right. And I don't go a month without hearing a tale about the spot on Broadway where they sell hot bikes. It comes down to nothing except Ron is black.
The guy didn't understand you. Sounds suspicious.
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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on
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John,
You simply do not have enough information to be this sure of yourself.
What we're seeing here is cyclists functioning as a "community" and looking out for each-other's interests. The cause of fighting for the rights of struggling immigrants to ignore our laws in order to operate businesses out of residences completely free of tax, licensing, or any requirements regarding registration of property that passes through their hands is certainly a noble one, but for me it's going to be secondary to the cause of helping cyclists hold on to their bikes.
John C. Wilson said:Thieves want to be rid of stolen property. ASAP. Five dollars. They don't hoard it. They certainly don't pay rent and advertise and clean bikes and invest in trucking inventory city to city. The thesis being tested here is just ridiculous. If there is a roomful of stolen bikes just sitting there it is pathetically easy for the police to crack the case and the perps are sitting there waiting to be arrested. It all comes down to the "suspects" are Mexican and lowerclass and don't behave like Anglos. It's the same frame of mind that got edited a bit at the top of the thread where someone accused Ron at NearlyNew of fencing. Ron has been right on that spot 15 years doing Chicago bikers right. And I don't go a month without hearing a tale about the spot on Broadway where they sell hot bikes. It comes down to nothing except Ron is black.
The guy didn't understand you. Sounds suspicious.
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Agreed re: police. They do not pursue property crimes unless the victim has some sort of political connection and it is entirely possible to subsist from buying and selling stolen goods in this city.
I have to assume John C. Wilson is posting from some other city.
spencewine said:I admit that The fact that they openly showed me the inventory is the thing that makes me wonder if I'm way off here, but I can assure you if some 30-35 yr old white guy in Lincoln Park showed me this, I'd have the same questions about its legitimacy. And the point about not understanding me has nothing to do with suspicion, I was simply trying to state I made an attempt at due diligence. I have bought bikes on CL before and always ask there origin.I also think you give cops too much credit.
John C. Wilson said:Thieves want to be rid of stolen property. ASAP. Five dollars. They don't hoard it. They certainly don't pay rent and advertise and clean bikes and invest in trucking inventory city to city. The thesis being tested here is just ridiculous. If there is a roomful of stolen bikes just sitting there it is pathetically easy for the police to crack the case and the perps are sitting there waiting to be arrested. It all comes down to the "suspects" are Mexican and lowerclass and don't behave like Anglos. It's the same frame of mind that got edited a bit at the top of the thread where someone accused Ron at NearlyNew of fencing. Ron has been right on that spot 15 years doing Chicago bikers right. And I don't go a month without hearing a tale about the spot on Broadway where they sell hot bikes. It comes down to nothing except Ron is black.
The guy didn't understand you. Sounds suspicious.
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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I find it interesting how the same cast of characters constantly harps on Walmart and Olive Gardens blighting the urban landscape with suburban sprawl -yet will come down on folks "flaunting the laws and regulations" and daring to try and eek out a living and make a buck with a small independant business and creating their own jobs.
In a world where the rules only apply to the little guy a big corporation like McDonalds can end-round rules like Pedestrian Streets on the 2700 block of Milwaukee and get their new mega-drivethru built by greasing the local alderman, but the small guys need to play by the rules and get buried.
Big corpas like Walmart, Olive Garden & McDonalds have teams of lawyers to bend the bevy of rules that exist, armies of accountants to tame all the regulations and red tape, and finally platoons of lobbyists to grease the wheels of Federal, State, & City government to let them do whatever they need to do.
Yet some poor schmuck who wants to buy and sell a few beat-up used bikes out of a garage gets people on the local bike forums all bent of shape and contemplating what to do to shut them down.
It is ANY WONDER most bikes sold in this country roll out the door of a Walmart? They are the only ones bi enough to cut through all the regulations and red tape and still sell something that the poor folks who aren't allowed to make their own jobs and end up working for mini um wage at some big corporation can afford.
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I'm not going to get involved with your soapbox rant, but this is more than "just a few beat up used bikes out of a garage." Why don't you go have a look for yourself, perhaps you'll find your next project.
James BlackHeron said:I find it interesting how the same cast of characters constantly harps on Walmart and Olive Gardens blighting the urban landscape with suburban sprawl -yet will come down on folks "flaunting the laws and regulations" and daring to try and eek out a living and make a buck with a small independant business and creating their own jobs.
In a world where the rules only apply to the little guy a big corporation like McDonalds can end-round rules like Pedestrian Streets on the 2700 block of Milwaukee and get their new mega-drivethru built by greasing the local alderman, but the small guys need to play by the rules and get buried.
Big corpas like Walmart, Olive Garden & McDonalds have teams of lawyers to bend the bevy of rules that exist, armies of accountants to tame all the regulations and red tape, and finally platoons of lobbyists to grease the wheels of Federal, State, & City government to let them do whatever they need to do.
Yet some poor schmuck who wants to buy and sell a few beat-up used bikes out of a garage gets people on the local bike forums all bent of shape and contemplating what to do to shut them down.
It is ANY WONDER most bikes sold in this country roll out the door of a Walmart? They are the only ones bi enough to cut through all the regulations and red tape and still sell something that the poor folks who aren't allowed to make their own jobs and end up working for mini um wage at some big corporation can afford.
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And rather than continuing the back-and-forth of whether these are stolen or not....If someone, who speaks better Spanish than I do, wants to head over to this address to translate for me...maybe we can clear the air on how they were acquired. I'd certainly love to buy a couple of the bikes I saw there. I can trade a 6 pack of your favorite brew in return for your services. You can pm me if interested.
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Thank you James.
Since I'm being personally attacked (I can take it) I'll have to eat more bandwidth later but Happy Easter everyone.
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